Home Sweet Home

Three weeks from the day I penned my last blog, I flew home from Afghanistan. The tour was over, but it has last an everlasting impact on me. Over the next few days, I will try to capture a few of the last days I had in Kabul. For now, just a few pictures as I headed through Kuwait before crossing the pond to Virginia.

Kuwait. The current location for a "transition course" as Sailors leave the theater of operations. It's supposed to be a place of relaxation before heading home. Everyone's experience in Afghanistan is different. Many military members are truly out "in the s**t" as they say. Some spend more time doing staff work, living on a secure camp.

I would say that both extremes require some reprogramming in the cranium to prepare you for life back home in the USA.

A sobering thought. Before the military had such decompression courses to prep members for returning home, there were many ugly stories of military personnel returning home. An Army data point...In the summer of 2002, five soldiers at Fort Bragg murdered their wives after returning from Afghanistan. Two of the soldiers also committed suicide. At that time, soldiers returning from fierce combat in Afghanistan received the same decompression training as soldiers in peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Bosnia. But after the Fort Bragg murders, the Army re-vamped its entire program. Read the website in the link above for more information.

I flew home commercial out of Kuwait City International, direct into Dulles. After a short trip down to Norfolk, I was in my wife's arms. That was nearly two weeks ago! More observations to follow about my last days in Afghanistan, but need to get moving today. Heading out in town with my wife -- no body armor, weapons or uparmored vehicles...not sure if I should have left them behind - it's crazy around here!